Author Archives: MssngrDeath

Underpowered: Bullywug (4E)

Posted on 28 February, 2013 by MssngrDeath

D&D has lots of options, and it’s fairly obvious that they’re not all equally powerful. I’ve ranted about this, but over time I’ve also been doing something about it. Rarely, it’s a house rule to limit to power of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Gaming Systems, Underpowered | Tagged | 2 Comments

Live GameScreen

Posted on 25 February, 2013 by MssngrDeath

I have to give props to Live GameScreen, and not just because I invented it. It’s the tool I’ve been using at the table for almost three years now, and along with MapTool (for online gaming) it’s the only software … Continue reading →

Posted in DMing, Gaming Systems | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

System Depth and Published Material

Posted on 23 February, 2013 by MssngrDeath

When a player is building a character, I generally go through the same steps with them every time, or suggest that they go through the steps on their own if they’re sufficiently well-versed in the system: Decide what character they … Continue reading →

Posted in DMing | 4 Comments

Marathon Sessions (or, Sleep Is for the Boring)

Posted on 17 February, 2013 by MssngrDeath

Note: One of the problems with having a post backlog that I go through is that sometimes I talk about issues that aren’t as topical by the time the post goes live. Trust me, three weeks ago House of Cards … Continue reading →

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Schrödinger’s Gun in Games (or, That Robot Ducky is a Doombot!)

Posted on 7 February, 2013 by MssngrDeath

When I was younger and thus poorer, I liked to make gifts for people rather than purchase them. One year I came home from college for a weekend that coincided with my cousin’s first or second birthday party, and I … Continue reading →

Posted in DMing, Gaming Systems | Tagged | 1 Comment

Law A

Posted on 30 January, 2013 by MssngrDeath

The Laws started as kind of a tongue-in-cheek breakdown of my DMing style, which is how they got wording like “players can screw themselves over” that would get me laughed out of Wikipedia. Originally the list was longer and included … Continue reading →

Posted in DMing, Laws | 4 Comments

Poll: Post Length

Posted on 23 January, 2013 by MssngrDeath

In general, do ya’ll prefer shorter, more frequent articles that split up a topic, or longer, less frequent articles that cover more of an issue at once? I tend to lean toward the latter, but I noticed that my most-commented … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Set Pieces in D&D

Posted on 19 January, 2013 by MssngrDeath

I’ve said before that I like designing campaigns toward some sort of set piece, and I think there’s an opportunity to explain. Here, a set piece is a significant encounter that doesn’t follow the normal flow of D&D. It’s usually … Continue reading →

Posted in DMing, Gaming Systems | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Skill Challenges (or, They Wasted a Perfectly Good Mechanic)

Posted on 7 January, 2013 by MssngrDeath

One thing I was excited about in 4th Edition was skill challenges. I think they’re a great idea. I think they’re such a great idea that I can’t help but notice that every DM in every campaign I’ve seen has … Continue reading →

Posted in DMing, Gaming Systems, House Rules | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Pacing (Part 4, Ideas)

Posted on 27 December, 2012 by MssngrDeath

I’ve spent three blog posts going over the theory of pacing. Though I provided some examples, I didn’t really go over that many specifics of how pacing can work in a campaign. So here are some ideas I’ve used that … Continue reading →

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